Valentine's day message

Hi Elly,

how are you doing? I am just about to finish my first set of retreat in France, when I found out that my father has post traumatic stress disorder - he is alone in Haiti and really shocked from having to fight his way out of the house in the quakes, being banged about. He is now 85 years old. I am the only one who has an American passport and can go to Haiti and get him out with me.

It's really rough now - he has slept in the street since the earthquake, and everyone has to stay outside for another 4 to 6 months before it is safe to go back inside. On top of that, he is so traumatized from being in the house in a big quake, that he is now too scared to walk back into a building. He asks to come to the US for the first time in his life. Nanette is already covering my flight to Haiti with her frequent flyer miles, but I also need to fly from France to NYC, and bring my father back with me. Plus I will have to provide him with winter clothes and some money. He can then live with my NY brother who cannot go, because he will lose his job if he leaves for more than 5 days and has two children to take care of.

I will probably have to be in Haiti with my father for 10 days while they process his papers. Nanette is taking care of everything. We are just waiting to hear when the papers could be processed, so I can go. We have been sending him money for food, but the whole neighborhood is hungry, so everyone is eating off of his check. The old people are now dying from the aftermath of the shock in Haiti, and we would not want our father to die alone like that. What I am looking for is frequent flyer miles, money, or a job to donate - my Haitian brother was able to take his children out of the country, he is now in Florida, but has no job. He is a business person, and so is his wife, so if you know someone in Florida who could employ them...

Let me know the best time to reach you on the phone.

Love, your brother Jinpa